52 Aspect markers and inchoative meaning

Summary

In quite a few creole languages, whenwords (verbs or adjectives) denoting physical and psychological states such as ‘ripe’, ‘sick’, ‘fat’, ‘red’ are combined with progressive or completive aspect markers, they can take on an inchoative meaning (i.e. a sense of 'becoming'). Thus, an expression that is literally 'is being ripe' (using a progressive marker)means 'is becoming ripe', and 'finished being sick' (using a completive marker) means 'has become sick'.